Shipping & Delivery Services
Long Distance Delivery
Age of Elegance will assist in shipping your windows to you. We have had excellent experience with The UPS Store in Tiburon, California. The head packager at this facility is amazingly good at working with stained glass. UPS gives prompt, professional service at a very fair price. The UPS Store provides insurance coverage and it offers a variety of shipping options. We will deliver your purchases to The UPS Store free of charge if you wish. The actual arrangements for shipping, insurance, boxing (or crating), and the costs associated to these services are the direct responsibility of the purchaser. The UPS Store makes it easy.
The UPS Store
1 Blackfield Drive
Tiburon, California, 94920
415-388-6815
Email: store3701@theupsstore.com
www.theupsstore.com
As an alternative, Age of Elegance will offer for the client’s consideration appropriate shippers that it feels are reputable, qualified, and experienced at preparing and shipping stained glass windows and do its best to assist in the pickup of the items.
If you have a preferred shipper, we will gladly coordinate the pickup of the glass from the Age of Elegance warehouse. Full payment for the window must be received and cleared prior to the pickup of the merchandise. Driver must have written authorization and provide appropriate advance notification for scheduling.
Local Delivery
Items in our San Francisco Bay Area inventory can be delivered by our own transport for the nominal fee of $75. This includes delivery to the client’s location or to the shipper of the client’s choice. Delivery must be within a 50 mile radius of San Rafael, California to qualify for this nominal rate. Deliveries within Marin County will be free.
Restoration & Repairs Services
Authentic antique glass was all made by hand. As with any hand-made art, there will be what some consider to be imperfections in the original piece. Most collectors and purveyors feel these imperfections not only add to the beauty of the piece, but can indicate its authenticity as well. The “chatter” lines in the bevels and the obvious fact that the circles aren’t perfectly round are unmistakable signs that the glass in the photo to the left has been ground by hand.
Antique glass available for purchase on this site may have come directly from the original installation, but more likely has changed hands many times and even been modified in the process. Modifications and repairs done before entering my inventory may not have been done correctly, well, or in keeping with the style and period. In the descriptions of our windows we endeavor to describe the condition of our windows and completely and accurately as possible. Some windows are offered in the same state as we purchased them. Ohers have been repaired or restored prior to offering them on this site.
Like the original fabrication of the glass window, restoration and repair is also an art that can only be done correctly by someone technically accomplished at their craft. We at Age of Elegance maintain a large inventory of authentic antique glass that is used to repair or restore our windows. Our craftsman are accomplished at their art and take great pride in the restoration and repair of our windows.
Repair Services
Repair is fixing the obvious problems with the window that have occurred in the one hundred or so years since it was created. Repair is fixing any problems with the window so that it comes reasonably close to its original design. Such repairs include fixing bothersome cracks, replacing small pieces of missing glass called “holes” or “light leaks,” repairing broken or loose solder joints, and reattaching loose reinforcement rod ties. In more than 90% of our repairs, we use authentic antique glass.
Restoration Services
In addition to fixing all problems mentioned above under repair, restoration is preparing the window for the next 100 years. Such restoration efforts include reinforcing solder joints, solidly securing the reinforcement rod system, adding reinforcement bars if necessary, flattening the window if needed, thoroughly cleaning the window, and completely re-grouting the window.
Obtaining A Quote
Our restoration and repair services are currently only available for windows in our inventory. However, we are open to talking about large projects that involve the preservation of authentic antique American glass windows. Call or email us and tell us about your project and how we might help.
Prior to quoting a price for these services, both the client and Age of Elegance must agree on the goal of the restoration/repair and set realistic and appropriate expectations of the outcome. Choices of replacement glass can be indicated by a client, but the ultimate choice must be left to the craftsman and the time of actual repair. Our restoration and repair services are in addition to the purchase price of the windows. Full payment of the window price plus 50% of the estimated repair cost must be received before any work is undertaken.
Alteration Services
Often we have clients who love a window, but it’s not quite the right size. In these cases, it is a minor alteration to add or remove borders to alter its dimensions. If executed with sensitivity, these alterations do not drastically change the original design since the border acts much like the frame of a window.
In other cases, clients want to eliminate sections of a window, split a window, or combine two or more windows together. These are considered major alterations and we evaluate these on a case-by-case basis.
In evaluating all alteration requests, we apply the following rule:
As purveyors and custodians of antique glass, we feel the responsibility to history, the artists, and the piece itself to only consider alterations that are in character with the original style of the window.
Antique Glass
As a by-product of more than 30 years of window repairs, we have accumulated a large inventory of authentic antique glass, including Tiffany glass. This glass is used whenever possible in all of our repairs and restorations. If authentic antique glass is not available, we use best matches with the full prior knowledge and consent of the purchaser.
Generally, alterations are only performed on windows in our inventory.